the game was so wild, many wanted it banned outright, prompting theodore roosevelt, a fan, to plead with organizers to tone it down. he succeeded and football has grown ever since. not terribly long after world war ii surging in popularity. >> and what changed that in the 1950s was television. television made it possible for football fans everywhere to follow professional football and it also opened it up a game for people who had no connection whatsoever with the universities. >> reporter: tv turned it into big league entertainment with slow-motion replays, cute cheerleaders and superstar athletes. today pro football has by far no more fans than any other american sport and each super bowl is a record breaker even before the kickoff. tom foreman, cnn, looking for tickets in washington. >>> coming up, what's a super bowl party without $65,000 worth of chicken wings? "the ridiculist" is next. try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back int